Random News Links

Well, the new version of the News & Blog Links are coming along nicely, with vetted articles from well-respected sources being piped directly into the forums.

But not all news shows up as part of my RSS feed, so here's some more random links:

• The UK's Daily Mail is reporting that salt acts as a natural anti-depressant.
• Chinese police are handing out raw chili peppers to get drivers to stay awake.
• A bottle of billionaire's vinegar has been opened, leaving only two remaining bottles of Perrier Jouët's Sillery 1825, also known as the world's oldest champagne.
• Boston's real life Cheer's bartender has been laid off.

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No longer hungover from last night's Voicebox-fest, but the throat is still a tiny bit hoarse.

• Kim Jong-Il wanted North Korea to open its first "authentic" Italian restaurant and reportedly spared nothing in getting the recipe right.
• Drinkers in a Scottish pub had to be treated for sunstroke after the bar manager accidentally replaced the fluorescent bulbs with ultraviolet tanning bulbs.
• There's a group of wine terrorists that emptied vats of over a million bottles worth of foreign wine. I especially love this quote:
  
  Quote:

  Today there is part of French winegrowers who still do not accept the law of the market. To fit supply and demand for them makes no sense. They want to sell their wine at high prices, full stop. Well, it doesn't work like that.
• The Washington Post has a really interesting article about a Persian breakfast item that involves sheep offal. I'll be honest: me kinda want.
• The San Francisco Chronicle has an article about the man that brought New York pizza to Iceland.
• Finally, there's an article in the Guardian about the rights and wrongs about giving alcohol to your kids.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

• Anthony Bourdain is showing up all over the place, and EMD summarizes an MSNTV photogallery while he's also due to appear in the print copy of Nation's Restaurant News.
• Utah has reformed its liquor laws.
• Grant Achatz defends molecular gastronomy on The Atlantic's slick new web page.
• The New York Times mentions a vending machine in Italy that makes pizza. Which must clearly be better than those kebabs.

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March Madness is here!

• Remember the link about the pizza vending machine. Italian pizza-makers are not at all happy.
• Nigeria drinks more Guiness than Ireland.
• And one last piece of Irish related material -- this piece is about how the potato was both a blessing and a curse for Ireland.

Hope everyone got all the first round picks in. I'll be cheering for Portland State in an upset win.

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Droppin' articles in 3s like Portland State

• There's a really cool Washington Post travel correspondent who writes about his experience at a Baghdad shawarma stand.
• CSM has a nice look at North Carolina style BBQ.
• The Atlantic no longer has Grant Achatz' article about the death of molecular gastronomy online. But the Google Cache still has it. I have a sneaking suspicion his investors made him pull it.

Two bonus articles from the Atlantic! (I stole the ball off the inbound and nailed the mid-range jumper.)

• You can make tea out of coffee leaves.
• This article focuses on the Irish baking tradition.

AND ONE!

• Remember how I said how awesome it would be to have a Korean fried chicken joint. How about a Nashville hot fried chicken joint? (It's symmetries like this that lead me to continue to believe that Korean is the next hot ethnic cuisine.)

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The vernal equinox is here, and it really is beginning to feel like spring here in Portland.

• There's been a lot of news in the UK related to the country's alcohol problems, but this article is the most compelling: a study suggests that daily drinking is a bigger factor in liver disease than binge drinking.
• There's a fad among kids these days that has them "smoking" Smarties.
• Speaking of habit-forming substances, Spanish police seized a 42-piece dinner set, made entirely out of cocaine.
• Canada is reporting that with the declining demand for lobster in this economic climate, warehouses are flush with excess lobster and are the lobster industry are trying a new marketing campaign. You'll never guess what they're comparing it to.
• And finally, Germany is opening a museum dedicated to currywurst.

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I've been a bit, uh, distracted lately. That's not going to stop me from posting some links:

• Woody Allen wrote a short story in The New Yorker about a guy reincarnated as a lobster in a restaurant on the Upper East Side.
• The LA Times reports on the discovery of the all-you-can-eat gene, which prevented a lab mouse from gaining weight in a high-carb diet.
• Finally news out of the Pacific Northwest... waaay Northwest, in Anchorage. Gay bars change acts to appeal to straight customers.

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This trip to Seattle has done both stomach and soul quite a bit of good.

• If you've not heard, there's quite a bit of international food news concerning some Russian ice cream.
• David Chang of Momofuku, arguably the hottest restaurant in America right now, is adding foie gras to the menu just to spite the protesters.
• Morrissey demands that if he performs at a venue, no meat is the building on the day of his performance
• A study published in a British medical journal is linking hot tea to cancer and tells people to let it cool down instead.

And this is for Padma fans like me. I could drink her bathwater.

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So Hardees is the same as Carl's Jr. Didn't know that.

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If the weather keeps up like this, I might have no choice but to step away from the computer.

• The Chicago Tribune has a photo gallery showing how Peeps are made.
• Two-thirds of the restaurants that Ramsay visits on Kitchen Nightmares have either closed or sold.
• There's a pretty funny fan promotion going on at a Lake Elsinore Storm baseball game.
• A restaurant in Syria has set the record for world's largest restaurant, with over 6000 seats when it's got a full house.
• A couple of Irish related items: a new book talks about the globalization of the Irish pub, while Clyde Common's Jeffrey Morgenthaler addresses the notion of Protestant and Catholic Irish whiskey.

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Can't sleep, posting links. (For what it's worth, I've given up coffee for the past week and it's wrecked my usual sleeping pattern.)

• A couple of cheese related links: the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at some iconic California cheeses, while a man living Nepal is getting positive feedback for his Himalayan cheese.
• A bio-friendly chewing gum went on sale in Britain. Instead of sticking to sidewalks, it eventually biodegrades and turns to dust. My prediction: people stop chewing gum, resume smoking instead.
• A couple of Shanghai related links: a Shanghainese designer has created a Ping-Pong dining table. And the famous street snack alley in Shanghai is scheduled to be demolished to make way for skyscrapers.
• A semi-related follow-up to a posted link about curry in the UK, a local official had the bright idea of putting jobless Asian women to work in the curry houses. Of course, restauranteurs are not pleased.
  
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  To assume that someone is capable of working in a restaurant kitchen purely because that is the food of their origin is totally ridiculous. Would he suggest that all the British housewives who have mastered a cottage pie are capable of producing restaurant quality cuisine?
• The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the salmonella scare isn't over -- this time it could come from pistachios.

I'm going to take a break from lojacking cars to post a few links on this fine rainy day.

• There's apparently authentic okonomiyaki in Vancouver, BC, but I can't get past the Hello Kitty-ness of it all.
• Dunkin Donuts pulls franchise from a Muslim man in Chicago who refuses to sell pork.
• The Atlantic has a cool article talking about the food found at Thailand's politcal rallies.
• China's Snow beer has supplanted Bud Light as the number one selling beer in the world.
• A pregnant woman was kicked out of a pub for drinking.
• Here's a list of some strange regional American foods. Frankly I don't find spam musubi to be all that strange. And I like scrapple. But a chow mein sandwich?!? New England, WTF?

And finally, a theatrical short from 1945, "Cocktails for Two"

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Tonight is Game Night at Chateau Supreme, and I look forward to not-losing to Angelhair.

• The Wall Street Journal has a piece about adding a bar to a men's clothing store in the effort to get them linger and possibly spend more.
• The Chicago Tribune has an article about a lesson plan being given to New Orleans teachers, discussing the food in To Kill A Mockingbird, yet another reason why I support it as The Great American Novel. Scout is one of literature's finest female lead characters, right up there with Dagny from Atlas Shrugged.
• Some regional notes: the Houston Chronicle takes a look at the Queen of the Enchilada, while in Los Angeles, the popularity of the Dragon's Breath dish at Bazaar has caused Chef Jose Andres to pull the dish off the menu.
• A look at stadium food in Chicago's baseball stadiums as well as in Toronto FC's soccer stadium.

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Ended up losing to ConcreteOatmeal instead.

• A blog post on Wired describes the rising popularity of tea in Silicon Valley.
• Here's a look at art made from toast.
• I'll admit it: I'd love to try fugu, despite its deadly reputation.
• OAD released their 2009 survey and I've gotta say I'm unimpressed. The only Oregon representative is Paley's Place (given a score of 88/100). Washington was represented well, with The Herbfarm and Lampreia both receiving high scores of 94. It's all NYC-biased anyway, so I wouldn't think much of it.

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March Madness is behind us. With the arrival of spring there's baseball... and links!

• Scientists from Johns Hopkins say that eating broccoli every day for two months will prevent stomach cancer.
• Meanwhile, Australian researches found that drinking a banana smoothie before going to bed helps people who suffer from sleep apnea by keeping their airways open.
• Here's a fun little cartoon from the NY Times illustrating the history of the croissant and the bagel.
• And I originally thought that the world record mentioned in this article was about the longest pizza. Turns out it's just the largest number of pizzas served.

Speaking of pizza, here's a clip from last year's San Gennaro Festival in Los Angeles where host Jimmy Kimmel makes pizza with Chef Chris Bianco.

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I'd like to extend a hearty Welcome Home to Angelhair who's back from her extended stay in Israel. As a homecoming present I got you... a bunch of links!

• Here's a story about a seder with Marlon Brandon and Bob Dylan.
• For a limited time, Guiness is offering a new stout commemorating their 250th anniversary.
• On the heels of that hilarious "Ban Vegetarianism" post is an article in Time Magazine exploring whether vegetarianism in teens is an eating disorder.
• Filipino fishermen caught one of the world's rarest species, a megamouth shark. Despite the request of conservationists, it was eaten and served up as a delicacy. Now I know my people really mean well and all and I'm sure they were poor and hungry, but when you saute that shit and serve it with coconut milk, honestly what's the difference in taste between endangered shark and any other goddamn fish? And it's probably eaten with a mouthful of rice anyway. /me embarrassed.
• Finally, there's scientific proof that a bacon sandwich cures a hangover.

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What a spring-tease.

• MSNBC has a travel puff-piece on Portland. Places mentioned include Tad's Chicken & Dumplings, Dan & Louis Oyster Bar and Fratelli.
• A vegan woman in Colorado had her personalized plate rejected by the State on the grounds that it was obscene. Her plate: ILVTOFU.

• One London shop is selling cherries for $6 each. They're a special variety that arrives to market a full month before the normal harvest, and as such, are the only ones on the market over there.
• And finally, with Easter looming, here's a collection of Last Suppers.

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Back from the Farmers' Market and now I have to figure out what to do with these nettles... maybe I'll cook up some links.

• R&I released its list of top independent restaurants by food and beverage sales. Clocking in at #64 with about $12mil in annual sales is Portland City Grill.
• Down in Ashland, there's a new signage law that's gone into effect.
• One last Oregon-related note: the beer industry contributes over two billion dollars annually to the state's economy.
• I remember posting something on the old message board about a solar-powered water purifier. Here's another inventor who's giving us a solar-powered hot box.
• There are some doubts as to the veracity of Piven's claim of eating too much sushi that led to his mercury poisoning.
• If you've got some time on your hands, you can volunteer internationally at an organic farm in exchange for free room and board.

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The weather is still a bit blustery but at least the sun is out.

• I meant to post this days ago, but it's about American gin, and mentions Aviation, among others.
• As it turns out, Corona beer isn't recession proof.
• I haven't been watching South Park lately, so I don't know what's going on regarding Kanye West and fish sticks. Hilarity is bound to ensure, I'm sure.
• And finally, a bunch of Russian milk ads that are, um, specifically targeting men. If you've got AdBlock on Firefox, be warned that these pics won't show.

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I haven't had some pho in a while. I'm planning on heading over the hill to see if the Westside represents.

• Rome is 2762 years old, and the only way I know how to relate that to food is to mention that their use of garum is an early example of fish sauce in Western cooking.
• There's a bar in London that sprays a gin and tonic mist into the air and is decorated by giant limes and straws to make patrons feel like they're inside the drink.
• This post on HuffPo talks about the bad habits of Food Network chefs in the kitchen.
• CNN has an article focusing on five tasty burgers across America. The Hodads burger in San Diego is quite good, but that's the only one I've had.
• A restaurant in Tennessee wants to break the world record for most people simultaneously pounding a shot, in this case, with 1500 people doing a shot of tequila. The previous record is 1300 Germans doing a shot of corn schnapps.
• This travel article in the Wall Street Journal talks about visiting Hanoi, but the really interesting part is the latter portion of the article, talking about cha ca la vong and its status as a national dish.

And finally, here's a fun Britney video for ya:

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Here's to more 80 degree days in the near future.

• Gourmet magazine has an interesting look at açaí.
• The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Food & Wine's annual cocktail book.
• The BBC ran a television show of a man living among pigs.
• Cracked.com has a few food related humor posts, like this one about horrifying soft drinks from around the world and this one about gourmet foods that used to be cheap.

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I'm going through a phase of insomnia right now, so I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight. I've replaced trips to the coffee shop with trips to the gym, and tonight there's no booze in my system -- gonna try and get a good night's rest.

• Here's something from Reader's Digest, ten foods that make you sleepy.
• I'd really like to check out this cookbook by Donald Link for some real Cajun food.
• Watermen on the Chesapeake Bay are hoping to replenish depleted oyster stocks.
• There's a Formula 3 race car built out of vegetables and powered by chocolate, to the tune of 145mph.

I'll be heading to NYC soon, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to show a rare clip of Hiro-san at Urasawa in Beverly Hills. I like this video a lot just because it shows he's got quite a humorous side, despite being among the best in the world. (He's quite the foodie himself; you should get him started on his favorite dim sum.)

Astute observers of this video at Chiso Kappo will note pdxplate's own Mr Vigs in the background.

Sukiyaki at Chiso Kappo from Wright Eats on Vimeo.

Those two are my current kaiseki kings. After I knock out Masa, I'll be heading north to Tojo's in Vancouver BC.

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Here's to hoping that the sun comes back.

• There's something disingenuous when a man bib is being marketed for a carbonated lemon-flavored soft drink.
• This recent LA Times article talks about the growing popularity of kimchi.
• The San Francisco Chronicle talks about the different coffee regions that are emerging in Hawaii.
• The largest beer coaster manufacturer in the world has declared bankruptcy, much to the chagrin of beer mat aficionados.
• The whole kebabs-in-Tuscany thing has had a longer news shelf life than I imagined it would.
• And finally, now you too can have a business card made of meat.

Considering the copious amount of booze consumed last night, I'm feeling really good this morning. I'm giving the credit to a nice bowl of ramen at the last stop.

• Epicurious has a nice piece where chefs talk about what they learned from their mothers.
• A recent study showed that eating walnuts helps women reduce the risk of breast cancer.
• Chowhound has an interesting Table Manners article about ogling other people's dishes when you go out to restaurants.
• Australia's Daily Telegraph has a photo gallery of some disgusting food items.
• And finally, when Obama orders a burger medium-well, it sets off a debate about how to order burgers in the first place.

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Back from New York and facing a fridge full of leftovers. I predict a hash melange in my future... and links!

• 40-year-old Ivan Orkin from New York has moved to Tokyo and opened a ramen shop that's receiving high praise.
• Jamie Oliver is starring in an upcoming ABC reality show.
• Sauvignon blanc was analyzed to determine its aromatic components: among them, cat piss and passionfruit.
• Two DC-area restaurants have auctioned off their liquor licenses in an attempt to pay down their debt.
• There's a twitter feed for food porn. I kinda wish I thought of that.

And finally, McCauliflower's cafepress shop is selling T-shirts which take the Twitter "fail whale" and apply it to sushi:

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After an evening of getting my Idol on at Voicebox, it's time to rest the throat and sip on some tea. All while perusing a few links.

• Japanese now consume more meat than seafood, in a report that troubles many fisheries in Japan.
• Speaking of Japan, there's a rise in the production of artisanal cheese.
• There's a festival in Colorado celebrating "Miracle Mike", a chicken that was beheaded but continued to live for another eighteen months afterwards.
• Forbes has an article talking about foods you should be eating but probably aren't. My father was allergic to kiwis so growing up I never had them.
• This LA Times piece talks about the health benefits of coffee.
• This article from the Times in the UK talks about why British women don't drink beer. I don't think it's all that pertinent here in Portland where chicks dig beer, but for me the funny part was the very bottom where they suggested that Coors Light was a good beer for the ladies.

And finally, I thought I'd share this cool non-food related link from National Geographic, showing the translation of Native American place names across the country.

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The weather has been kinda wonky lately. Whether you're hiding from the rain or enjoying the sun, I've got some links for you.

• I am officially creeped out by potato art.
• I am, however, really impressed with these photoshopped, literal renditions of food names, like this pineapple:



• Experts are now linking the usage of certain pesticides toward the mysterious decimation of whole bee colonies.
• On the subject of death, here are the world's deadliest mushrooms.
• Someone in North Carolina robbed a store with a banana and then tried to eat the evidence.
• Out of the UAE comes this column, discussing the merits of eating alone.

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Come on weather. You can do it.

• A couple of Coca-Cola related items. First, they unveiled their can designs for this summer. And then a look at the history of Coca-Cola ads.
• The National Geographic has a special report on the global food crisis.
• Gourmet magazine has a Q&A with Tom Standage, the business editor of The Economist who explains how food has been the impetus behind much of society’s transformation and organization, not to mention “geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict and economic expansion.”
• There's a new strain of tomato called a kumato that's delicious at all stages of ripening. Call me when tomacco is available.
• There's a fun little anecdote in an Australian paper as a man tries to order noodles from a vending machine in Japan.
• I like Frank Bruni, and I'm sad to see him go but I'm excited for his memoirs being released this September. In the meantime, I thought I'd pay homage by linking to his review of Minetta Tavern in NYC. It was there that I had one of the best burgers of my life.
• Speaking of burgers, perhaps you'll be happier with an in-vitro hamburger.
• And finally, EMD takes a look at a very real product, the BeltzBib. Finally I can keep myself clean while eating in the car.

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Hope everybody enjoyed the Memorial Day Weekend. The rest of the week promises to be 75 and clear here in Portland, so the workweek might resume, but the good weather is sticking around.

• Oregon pays slightly more for Two Buck Chuck, and so I expect a similar price bump for the latest bulk wine.
• One of the ways that Portland (Maine) might beat out Portland (Oregon) is that in Maine, there appears to be topless donut shops. Get your morning coffee, and your morning motorboat; I love it!
• Newsweek has an article talking about 'housemade' vs 'homemade'. Personally, 'homemade' has a folksy charm about it, while 'housemade' actually sounds more workman and artisanal. That's just me, though, and I understand how it might smack of food snobbery. Hen eggs...
• I just found out that another couple of friends are expecting. Science Daily warns that it's easy to go overboard when 'eating for two'.
• For all you amateur mycologists out there, the NY Times has an article all about fungi.
• With all the pain and suffering in the world, this enstrawpreneur just wants to make sure you don't spill any more Capri Sun.
• Can humans tell paté from pet food? A paper explores the subject. I remember a joke from Chappelle Show: "Dog food tastes just like it smells.... Delicious!"

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The new local blog/board reader is up and running and doing even better than I imagined. But there's still tons of outside world links that I still dig through.

• Ferran Adria of El Bulli made some beer.
• Traces of cocaine were found in Red Bulls in Hong Kong.
• You definitely don't see much pimento and cheese 'round these parts.
• A couple of douchey 'how to improve' posts, one from a not-much-fun-to-read blog in LA, the other from a not-much-useful-anymore pair out of NY.
• There's a cool NPR piece from China about improving the nutrition of the children of poor migrant workers.
• The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the marketing transformation of Grape Nuts.
• Here's a list of the recent Oregon Wine Award winners. Can't vouch for 'em, perhaps someone else would care to comment.
• While we're talking about wine, a NY Times article addresses the overchilling of white wines.
• Mitsubishi corporation is attempting to corner the market on bluefin tuna.
• Staying in Japan, various factories have sprung up growing vegetables under laboratory-like conditions.
• And finally, a link to a parody video of the Pizza Hut Pastas, or as this video calls it, Signature Pasta Abominations.

Been a while since I've done one of these.

• Bob Marley's son is looking to start his own coffee brand.
• Here's a blog called Jaws Wired Shut, the culinary adventures of a fractured jaw patient.
• It doesn't really happen in Portland (with the exception being Bailey's, I think), but Esquire has a small post about ordering takeout at the bar.
• NPR takes a look at the obesity and malnutrition problem in California's Central Valley, one of America's biggest producers of fruits and vegetables.
• Michael Ruhlman visits a Cleveland-area Cheesecake Factory.

And I wouldn't buy factory made pork rinds, not when there's lots of Mexican markets nearby that are doing it fresh at the store. Here's a video to show why:

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Just 'cause I'm in Seattle doesn't mean I can't deliver the links!

• NYT talks about how, because of the down economy, more attention is being paid to junk food.
• As an example, someone did a taste test of the Korean-style tacos that Baja Fresh is trying out in their Orange County location.
• Furthermore, the Onion's AV Club did a fast food roundup as well.
• Tacos de sesos are getting hip. You can get it locally at Lindo Michoacan on Division.
• Speaking of brains, EMD talks about an in-flight magazine doing a fairly shocking photo spread of "zombie tapas".
• As it turns out Julia Child didn't approve of Julie Powell's blog.
  

  Flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn’t attractive, to me or Julia. She didn’t want to endorse it. What came through on the blog was somebody who was doing it almost for the sake of a stunt. She would never really describe the end results, how delicious it was, and what she learned. Julia didn’t like what she called ‘the flimsies.’ She didn’t suffer fools, if you know what I mean.

• Here's a link to SF cocktail blogger Camper English's tales of Tales. Now if only local cocktail bloggers would do such a thing. *cough*.
• Michael Ruhlman has a simple sourdough starter recipe.
• NPR takes a look at The Pentagon Channel's weekly competition of the best military chefs called The Grill Seargents.

It takes a while to load, but I'm going to leave with a link to Air Yakiniku, featuring a virtual grill of meat.

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Goddammit it's hot today.

• San Francisco magazine has a chat with the CEO of Fernet-Branca.
• Here's a look at the evolution of the McDonald's logo
• It's like Man vs Food, the website version: EatThisAndDie.com
• Here's an interesting article about food in a submarine.
• The braintrust behind the Kogi Korean taco truck that kicked off foodcart mania is starting a consulting business.
• While we're talking about LA, they've started their own bartenders' guild. Our very own Jeffrey Morgenthaler is quoted in the article.
• Okay one last LA Times piece, this one talking about global sandwiches. Portland is in quite the sandwich mania, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see carne asada banh mi turn up.

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Here's to hoping the fever broke. Is an 80 degree summer too much to ask?

• Some links from around the world. A restaurant owner in Istanbul was murdered for enforcing the smoking ban.
• pdxplate members Mr Vigs and K Hong recently returned from a trip to San Sebastian. I haven't seen any trip reports yet, but here's a look at Basque country anyway.
• My favorite food writer recently: Francis Lam of Gourmet for articles such as this look at a Cantonese BBQ joint in a strip mall in Toronto.
• A lot of you have probably seen the cow diagram at Laurelhurst Market. JCrew has something similar printed on boxers.

I'll leave you with a video clip of Chef Tom Colicchio on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

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I for one welcome this sudden drop in temperature.

• The NY Times reports that oysters are on the rebound in the Chesapeake Bay.
• The blog for Chicago restaurant L2O makes tuna snow out of a frozen tuna.
• Prissy food bloggers hate food blogger movie.
• North Korea gets its first fast food joint. Of course there's a kimchi burger.
• New York Magazine talks about what the hotness of your waitress says about the economy.

I'll leave you with a video of another noodle shop in Japan with their ramen robots.

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pdxplate has a gift to all the reason birthday celebrants: more links.

• Time Out New York takes a look at the hot new culinary jobs. As expected, bartenders and butchers are there. The inclusion of baristas kinda surprise me, though.
• More and more home cooks are tackling butchery and charcuterie, according to the Independent.
• This blog post takes a look at some of the famous names in booze such as Bacardi and Jack Daniels.
• A restaurant in Portland, Maine, was robbed but the robber was caught on a park bench sleeping off his food coma.
• Business week has advice from big name chefs about how to open a restaurant.
• And while taco trucks are alive and well, tamaleros, or tamal vendors, are falling on hard times.

Finally, I think it's pretty funny that Voodoo Doughnuts, Ground Kontrol and the 24 Hour Church of Elvis count as Portland landmarks on Google Maps.

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A bunch of booze related links this afternoon.

• I'll start with this matching set of desktop wallpapers -slash- placemats for your kids with drink recipes, inspired by the show Mad Men
• While we're talking about Mad Men, here's a NY Times article talking about the accuracy of the drinks props used on the show.
• Bourbon and Branch posted the recipe to one of their cocktails, The Laphroaig Project, which includes both colors of chartreuse, Maraschino lemon juice and peach bitters.
• This blog post from the Atlantic talks about a visit to a tofu restaurant in Japan during which an earthquake happens.
• ABC's Nightline did a story about the new rock stars of the culinary world: butchers.
• It's still technically summer, so here's a hamburger blog post by Michael Ruhlman.

I'll leave you with one last burger link, this Travel Channel look at a burger joint in Arizona called Heart Attack Grill. If you weigh over 350lbs, you get to eat there for free.

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Why hello there Summertime. Welcome back.

• Popular Science has a cool look at the future of farming.
• One man in Florida went as far as to recreate Brooklyn water to make his bagels.
• This cool Etsy apron has measurement conversions on it, upside down so you can read it.
• A paper has been published talking entitled Strategies of Buenos Aires Waiters to Enhance Memory Capacity in a Real-Life Setting in a behavioral neurology journal.
• I didn't think this was entirely a pizza-related link, but the Oakland restaurant Pizzaiolo has a chicken coop attached to it.
• There's an interesting lawsuit currently being deliberated regarding the man whose face is on the Taster's Choice label.
• Esquire magazine has a compelling article by a man with a disease of the small intestine that prevents him from eating anything, living only by IV drip.
  

  Yes, I'm starving. There's been nothing for two months now. No food, no drink, nothing in my mouth except the air I keep sucking. It would be plain to say the hunger is driving me mad, because it is. I crave food more than sex. The smell and touch of food can drop me to my knees. Food left me suddenly, in the chaos of emergency surgery, and, empty of food, I think about it constantly, an obsession that magnifies the ordinary into the surreal. A simple french fry is a wonder, an uneaten crust of bread salvation; something as unattainable as a fried egg, life itself.

I'll leave you with some Japanese pig rodeo.

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I know it's Tuesday because I have the week's first volley of links.

• Here's an article with a porn star doing reviews of various sausages.
• The Seattle Weekly has a slideshow looking at some of the city's kitchen scars.
• Elsewhere in the world, a 3000-year-old barrel of butter has been discovered in an Irish peat bog.
• Kazakhstan is trying to save the genetic ancestor of all apples.
• Gizmodo is spending all week doing the Taste Test series, looking at where food and technology intersect. Of course, there's an article on Alinea in Chicago.

Speaking of Alinea, I'll leave you with this video, chock full of Alinea macro photography.